From 22 August to 3 September 2017, the world’s top athletes will be competing at the AIDA Freediving Championship. Taking place on the Island of Roatán, Honduras, international athletes are attempting to break national and world records.

Camila Jaber, National Record for CNF (No fins), 56m

Currently, results have been announced for the Women’s Free Immersion (FIM) with Alessia Zecchini earning the Gold Medal at a depth of 88 metres and breaking the Italian National Record.

The Men’s FIM saw William Trubridge clenching the gold at a 114-metre depth despite getting a yellow card. Check out the footage of his dive taken with an underwater drone here.

William Trubridge, Men's FIM Gold Medalist

So far, the event has witnessed numerous national record-holders such as Natalie Rudman from South Africa at a 60-metre depth, Jennifer Wendland from Germany at an 82-metre depth, and Estrella Navarro from Mexico at a 74-metre depth.

Jennifer Wendland, Women's no fin, German National Record Holder

“The women performed extremely well with many white cards! It was close with Alessia getting to 88 metres, Sofia and Jessea doing 86 metres and Sayuri’s 85 metres. The men announced very deep dives and as a result there were many yellow and red cards,” official photographer Alex St. Jean comments.

From left to right: Sofia Gomez Uribe, Jessea Lu, Sayuri Kinoshita

Alex continues, “I think the women will dive strong in the upcoming days and more white cards will be seen. The men might take today as a warning to dive a bit more conservatively after seeing so many early turns and blackouts. It pays to dive a bit more conservatively so that you are sure to get some points instead of being deducted for yellows or getting zero for red.”

From left to right: Tied for third, Brandon Hendrickson, USA, 92m white card and Adam Stern, 92m white card, Australia National Record Holder

Free Diving (also known as lung diving, apnea or freediving) is a sport in which athletes compete to go as deep as possible while holding their breath. Some of these athletes, many of whom already participated in previous editions of the Caribbean Cup in Roatán, are able to descend more than 100 meters deep and emerge about 4 minutes later.

The World Championships and Caribbean Cup is comprised of three freediving disciplines: